S8 Ep377: Jack Burnham reveals that Chinese academics have been granted easy access to Energy Department supercomputing resources used in nuclear weapon simulations. The discussion highlights alarming security lapses allowing potential adversaries to benefit from s
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 27 January 2026
⏱️ 9 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
1957, OPERATION PLUMBBOB
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| 0:00.0 | I'm John Batson. I welcome my good colleague, Jack Burnham, of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy, |
| 0:22.0 | to guide me through some nomenclature that is unfamiliar to me, but it has to do with |
| 0:26.7 | Chinese spying. That's right. You've heard about the Chinese Ministry of State Security and how good it is. |
| 0:34.0 | Well, it's better than good because it hides in plain sight. Jack, a very good |
| 0:38.6 | evening to you on the 15th of January, 2026 days. The chairman of the government, of the House of |
| 0:48.6 | Representatives inquiring into Chinese influence in America wrote a letter to the interim director of the National |
| 0:56.2 | Science Foundation. I write to urge the National Defense Foundation, National Science Foundation, |
| 1:02.0 | immediately revoke access for all Chinese entities to the NSF's advanced cyber infrastructure |
| 1:08.2 | coordination ecosystem, services and support. |
| 1:12.3 | It's called the Access Program. |
| 1:14.9 | I stop there because we're going to have to translate. |
| 1:18.6 | But boy, this sounds as if the Chinese are inside the walls and stealing. |
| 1:24.2 | Good evening to you, Jack. |
| 1:25.6 | Thank you for having me. |
| 1:27.1 | I think it's the case. |
| 1:28.3 | I would stress that these so far are allegations that are being made on behalf of the |
| 1:33.6 | investigatory committee, and the National Science Foundation hasn't responded to this request |
| 1:38.3 | for records. All of that being said, the investigation that the China Select Committee |
| 1:44.1 | conducted is indeed quite troubling. |
| 1:46.6 | It suggests that multiple Chinese universities directly tied into the Chinese military and other |
| 1:52.5 | defense-related industries were able to access American supercomputing resources maintained by the |
| 1:57.8 | National Science Foundation, the same type of computing resources that are |
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